K'Barthan Series

All The Pan of Hamgee wants is a quiet life. So why did he have to fall in love with a woman living a different version of reality, upset a murderous tyrant, and then run out of places to hide? Now all he has to do is face his inner demons, rescue everything he holds dear, and save the world, or die trying. Oh yes, and he's an abject coward. Great. No pressure then.

The Pan of Hamgee, starving outlaw, bumps into Big Merv: the meanest, scariest gangster in the City, and without thinking what he is doing, steals his wallet. When Big Merv realises what has happened our hero's future looks short. Will he talk his way out of it or will he be "recycled" into a stanchion of the Outer Ring Road extension?

Meet The Pan of Hamgee: coward, unwilling adventurer and, by some miracle, K’Barth’s longest surviving outlaw. He just wants a quiet life so working as a getaway driver is probably a bad career move. Then he falls in love at first sight with a woman he hasn't even met who comes from an alternative reality. That’s when things really begin to get complicated.

The Pan of Hamgee is not a natural knight in shining armor. Yet he has escaped from police custody in K’Barth, switched realities and foiled Lord Vernon’s attempt to kidnap Ruth, the Chosen One, from the Festival Hall. Pretty good, he thinks. However, Ruth thinks otherwise. Being pursued by Lord Vernon is bad enough. Now, thanks to The Pan, she’s on the run. They are both alive, of course, but with Lord Vernon on their tail neither of them can be sure how long for.

The Pan of Hamgee needs answers, although he’s not even sure he knows the questions. He has a chance to go straight but it’s been so long that he’s almost forgotten how. Despite a death warrant over his head he is released, given a state-sponsored business, and a year’s amnesty for all misdemeanors while he adjusts. On the down side, Ruth has left him for his nemesis, Lord Vernon. The Pan doesn’t have a year, either. In only five days Lord Vernon will gain total power and destroy K'Barth. Unless The Pan can stop him.

The Pan of Hamgee doesn't believe in miracles but if he’s going to save K'Barth it looks as if he might need one. He's not quite as alone as he thought. The punters from The Parrot and Screwdriver are right behind him and he has rescued three of his friends from the Grongolian Security Forces, who are now of course, three of the nation's most wanted, which doesn't make life easy. He even has something of a plan for once. It involves making peace with the Resistance, trying to resurrect the Underground movement, and toppling Lord Vernon.